Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860 contains just over a hundred
pamphlets and books (published between 1772 and 1889) concerning the difficult and troubling experiences of African and African-American slaves in the
American colonies and the United States. The documents, most from the Law Library and the Rare Book and Special
Collections Division of the Library of Congress, comprise an assortment of trials
and cases, reports, arguments, accounts, examinations of cases and decisions, proceedings,
journals, a letter, and other works of historical importance. Of the cases presented here, most
took place in America and a few in Great Britain. Among the voices heard are those of some of the
defendants and plaintiffs themselves as well as those of abolitionists, presidents,
politicians, slave owners, fugitive and free territory slaves, lawyers and judges, and justices of the
U.S. Supreme Court. Significant names include John Quincy Adams, Roger B. Taney,
John C. Calhoun, Salmon P. Chase, Dred Scott, William H. Seward, Prudence Crandall, Theodore Parker, Jonathan Walker,
Daniel Drayton, Castner Hanway, Francis Scott Key, William L. Garrison, Wendell
Phillips, Denmark Vesey, and John Brown. Slaves and the Courts was made possible by a generous gift from the Citigroup Foundation.

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The Library of Congress presents these documents as part of the record
of the past. These primary historical documents reflect the attitudes,
perspectives, and beliefs of different times. The Library of Congress
does not endorse the views expressed in these collections, which may
contain materials offensive to some readers.